How do credit cards respond to lack of travel benefits? They encourage Canadians to spend for bonus points at local restaurants
As I graduated to my 40s, I was very excited to get a VIP credit card offer from my bank. While I’d prefer for my mainstream bank in Canada to offer me carbon credits on purchases made, they offered me cashback, and some astounding travel bonuses including free travel insurance, and free lounge service at a long list of international airports.
I was psyched to start drinking free champagne or many a local IPA at the airport and was already strategising increasing my connections to shorten long haul trips with my family. Covid changed everything for anyone banking on travel-backed benefits and credit cards. What are banks to do? They need to quickly start dancing in step with the times. Banks have learned that they aren’t just a service provider but by thinking ahead can help stimulate the consumer economy.
A Canadian bank has offered benefits for buying local. With restrictions on restaurants beginning to ease across Canada, the CIBC bank is launching a new program to support business owners and help them bring back customers. (We covered the green bonds idea last month)
Double the rewards for buying local
Through their Revival Rewards program, people who use their CIBC rewards credit cards called Aventura to dine in, order take-out (including curbside pickup), or order delivery from local restaurants will receive double the rewards on their purchase. Oh yeah.
Remembering the good old days dinging out in the city
Over the last three months, credit card spending at restaurants has declined over 60% and was down more than 70% during the peak of the pandemic, according to CIBC data, highlighting that restaurants were some of the hardest hit businesses during the pandemic. I know that my credit card bill was down to about nothing, except for grocery food bills. I didn’t order anything online either because I wasn’t sure when the post offices would open again.
And Canada’s summer suffered hard, while patio nights will be bleak into the cold winter. But the marketing team at CIBC want to reward you when you reward restaurants with your business.
“Our Revival Rewards program is designed to help restaurant owners get back on their feet and underscores our commitment to providing support for small business owners,” said Laura Dottori-Attanasio, Group Head, Personal and Business Banking at CIBC.
I like this response because it meets the needs of people and enables them to support their local communities. That’s something very important to us and our societal circles as we slowly pull our heads out of the plague.
